The mere use of “you” can be jarring as it forces the reader to participate in the book, to be part of the experience. This book isn’t the easiest book to read. Tangentially this is going to be a personal post, however, like all my reviews I’ll try to keep this less about me and more about this wonderful, poignant, and utterly human book. I had requested the title and Myra was happy to oblige my fascination for the book despite the mixed reviews. Anyway, I was lucky to get a free copy from Pansing. I devour any Asian novel that comes my way, especially the rare opportunity to get an English translation of a book. If it isn’t quite obvious yet, Asian Literature holds a dear dear place in my heart. I’ve long wanted to read this book, for no real reason except it’s a rare Korean translated novel that’s been hailed internationally. Please Look after Mother is no exception to this.
Conversely, I gravitate towards books that capture my current emotional state. I say this because over the years, every book that ended in my lap was in harmony to what I was going through. Over the years, I’ve learned to think of books as the universe’s way of communicating with me. Sometimes, as your brother pointed out, you thought of her life as disappointing -even though Mother, despite never having been well off, tried so hard to give you the best of everything…” Iphigene here. Instead of helping her do the work that she did non-stop, even you thought of is as natural, and took it for granted that this was her job. You realised that her life hadn’t changed even after the war was over, and even when the family could afford to feed itself…Mother took care of repairing the gate and the roof and the porch. Her everyday words, which you didn’t think deeply about and sometimes dismissed as useless when she was with you, awoke in your heart, creating tidal waves. Mother’s everyday life used to go on in a repeating loop, without a break. “ Only after Mother went missing did you realise that her stories were piled inside you, in endless stacks. Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC).Literary Voyage Around The World Reading Challenge 2018.#WomenReadWomen2019 (A Year Of Women Reading Women) Reading Progress.#ReadIntl2020 (Year Of International Literature) Reading Progress.#DecolonizeBookshelves2022 Reading Progress.#DecolonizeReading2023 Reading Progress.
0 kommentar(er)
